ELECTION 2007: A wide open race for Richmond supervisor

With the incumbent deciding not to run, a Honeoye native and a retired Rochester school administrator are the candidates for the position.

Hilary Smith, staff writer

On Nov. 6, voters in Richmond will choose their fifth town supervisor in 14 years. Current Supervisor Randall Pawley has declined to run for re-election, becoming the third supervisor in a row to serve less than two full terms.

The candidates are Eileen Zoladz, a retired school administrator running as a Democrat and a member of the independent Citizens for a Better Government party; and Ralph Angelo, a Honeoye native running as a Republican and a member of the independent Strength Through Experience Party.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and voters should go to their normal polling places: District One to the old fire hall and districts Two and Three to the Masonic Temple.

The new supervisor and Town Board will face a variety of issues, including completion of a long-awaited, long-delayed new Town Hall project; cleanup of contamination in the town’s wells; possible expansion of the town water district; dealing with a declining school population; and answering questions about weed removal and algae control on Honeoye Lake.

Angelo has been on the town fire commission for 22 years and was its chairman for 15 years. He has been on the Honeoye Central School District Board of Education for more than 13 years and was either its vice president or president for 11 years. He owns and operates Ralph’s Barber Shop on Main Street in Honeoye and is an umpire for a softball league.

Zoladz is a retired teacher and school administrator with more than 30 years’ experience in the Rochester City School District, where she was a vice principal and principal. During her career, she established a literacy center and a service learning program that gave students the opportunity to shadow workers. Zoladz moved to Richmond in 2000 and has since joined the Lake Country Garden Club, Richmond’s Red Hat Society, the Book Talkers group and the Gazebo Committee.

Both candidates are married with grown children.

Zoladz said the first thing she would do if elected would be to have an open workshop with the Town Board “to discuss priorities to accomplish within the next two years.” She would push to complete the new Town Hall project, going ahead with the project’s first phase — for which the town has already set aside more than $500,000 — and subjecting the remainder of the project, which would cost an additional $600,000, to a public referendum.

Her other priorities include expanding Richmond’s Streetscape initiative, which has made the town more walkable by installing sidewalks and pocket parks; and extending municipal water access to homes on White, East Lake, Ashley and Allens Hill roads.

One of Angelo’s top projects would be to remove debris and gravel from the creek next to Honeoye Public Library that often overflows in heavy rain and floods neighboring businesses. Other top priorities would be to “bring the positive back to Honeoye,” to repair potholes on the town’s roads and to repair or replace the bridge on Main Street.

He also said the town needs sidewalks on its west side, and he proposes bringing municipal water to the areas that are currently without access by extending water lines by about a mile each year.

Angelo is in favor of subjecting the whole Town Hall project to a referendum rather than proceeding with the first phase and holding a referendum only for the second.

“I don’t believe in doing things in pieces. Let’s get it all done,” he said.

The candidates differ in their positions regarding the town’s weed harvester, which mechanically removes aquatic growth from Honeoye Lake.

“If (the harvester) helps, it helps in a small area. To really do a 100 percent on the lake, we need to move to a new source,” said Angelo.

“For now, the weed harvester is sufficient for our needs,” said Zoladz, adding that chemical treatments to clear the lake of weeds would be too harsh and that “the Honeoye Valley Association is doing a good job of looking for other options.”

Both candidates aim to change the town’s reputation for acrimony and its negative portrayal in the media.

Angelo said the supervisor’s role in changing that reputation is to gain the support of the Town Board. “The supervisor shouldn’t go in there to be boss,” said Angelo. “We’re on the same team.”

Zoladz said that the supervisor can reduce negativity in town government by having control over how Town Board meetings are structured. “The supervisor should limit floor time and communicate how people should act at the meeting — that they should address the audience, not just the board.” She said the supervisor should make sure the agenda is correct and up-to-date in advance of the meetings, so members of the board know what to expect. She also suggested televising Town Board meetings.

Both candidates agreed that the town needs an official Web site, and they said it would be among their top priorities.

Hilary Smith can be reached at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 343, or at hsmith@mpnewspapers.com

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